The 53 Degrees Destiny
by madamocho
Summary: Follow the gang as they celebrate Valentine's Day at home and in Aspen. Will a broken thermostat change the course of events. Of course it will, it's fan fiction! Mostly Shamy but all canon pairings represented. Story two of two. Written for the Big Bang Theory Forums Valentines Day Challenge.
1. Chapter 1

**The 53 Degrees Destiny**

* * *

**A/N: So this is my second Valentine's challenge story. The first is The 95 Degrees Destiny. Same outline, but different outcome. There are a few key things that are in both stories, but both are quite different. They are both stand alone, but I think part of the fun is to find what changed from the last story. Hope you like it.**

* * *

Leonard strolled down the hall towards the engineering lab, to see if Howard was ready for lunch. He turned the last corner and felt a chilling draft creeping through the hallway. He noticed the lab door was open and walked into an Arctic freeze.

Howard's hands were wrapped around a hot cup of coffee as he sat huddled up in his coat looking at a diagram.

"Why in the hell is it so cold in here?" Leonard blew into his hands to warm them.

"Oh, something going on with the thermostat. Maintenance has been working on it all morning. If you call 'working on it' eating jelly doughnuts." Howard shook his head. "They were good jelly doughnuts though."

"How can you stand working in here? I've been here two minutes and I can't stand it." Leonard shivered.

"Yeah, the 'boys' are almost in my abdomen. It helps that Ma keeps a chilly house. It cuts down on the sweating. But a nice hot lunch is sounding good right about now." Howard grabbed his coffee and they left the numbing cold room behind.

They met Kripke on the way to the cafeteria. "You fewwas buy a waffle ticket? It's your wast chance to buy one." He pulled a pair of blue tickets out of his pocket. "Twip to Aspen, aww expenses paid. Wovewy wadies weawing tight sweatews and Ugg boots. A dweam come twue."

"I totally forgot about it. How much are the tickets?" Leonard asked Barry.

"Ten dowwars cash onwy. But the dwawing is at noon." He pointed to a clock, it was five minutes till noon.

"We can make it in time, come on." Howard led the way to the cafeteria.

They headed straight to the lady in charge of the raffle. Leonard pulled out his wallet and Howard pulled a ten dollar bill out of his coat.

The lady smiled. "You two made it just in the nick of time. Good luck." She took their ticket stubs and mixed them in a huge fish bowl. She then thanked everyone who participated in the raffle and started pulling blue tickets from the fishbowl and announced the third and second place winners.

Leonard nudged Howard, "If I win, I want to take you and Bernadette with us to Aspen. It would be a nice way to say thank you to Bernie for getting Penny that job, and you guys are by far the most fun to be around." He didn't tell him the real reason. That Sheldon would be a royal pain in the ass and that Penny and Emily didn't get along.

"Well thanks buddy, what a nice gesture." Howard didn't say anything else.

"And the winner of the trip for four to Aspen, all expenses paid, over Valentine's Day weekend is ticket number...87498!"

"Holy crap, I won!" Howard pumped his fist in the air. "Yes! Aspen here I come!"

"Howard! I can't believe it! Congratulations. Who are you planning on taking with you?" Leonard said as if he didn't already know.

"Well I do owe Raj for taking us to San Simeon." Howard mused.

"Buwn dude." Kripke said to Leonard. "That's got to huwt."

"What! I was going to take you if I won, why aren't you taking me?" Leonard demanded.

"Raj took Bernie and me on a trip, the least I can do is repay the favor. Besides admit it, you only wanted to take us because Penny and Emily don't get along and Sheldon is no fun to take anywhere."

"Whaaaaaaat?" Leonard said unconvincingly.

"I agwee with Wowowitz. Coopew is a pawty poopew." Kripke nodded in agreement.

"No one asked you." Leonard huffed at Kripke. Leonard turned back to Howard. "I think a weekend with the four of us would have been great. But you go with Koothrappali. It's his first Valentine's Day with Emily, so he is going to go overboard and drive everyone crazy." Leonard folded his arms over his chest and gave a curt nod.

Howard thought about this and muttered, "How come even when I win, I seem to lose?"

* * *

Leonard went home that night in a foul mood. He opened the door to Penny's place and flopped on the couch.

"That bad of a day, huh?" Penny sighed. "Me too. Our big erectile dysfunction drug Dixaflopin has been recalled. Turns out it causes total and permanent hair loss. Everywhere." She stirred the pot in front of her then replaced the lid. "They were going to see if they could spin it to be an alternative to laser hair removal, but people really like their eyebrows."

Leonard grimaced at her news, and then added his own. "Get this, Howard won a trip to Aspen for four and chose Raj and Emily over us." Leonard fumed.

"Well they are best friends, and Raj did take them to San Simeon." Penny pondered.

"You too?" Leonard slumped in his spot.

"It's no big deal, we can have a great time here by ourselves." She sat down next to Leonard and draped her arms around him. "A little dinner, a little wine, a little fooling around…" She kissed his cheek, then his neck.

"Change that to a lot of fooling around and it's a deal." Leonard returned her kisses.

* * *

The day before Valentine's Day arrived and Howard rolled over in bed to kiss his wife. "Good morning, beautiful. Feel up to skipping town for a few days?"

"Only if I get to take you with me." She kissed him back.

"I wouldn't have it any other way. Are you sure you're OK with Raj and Emily coming with us?"

"I like them both, though Emily is a little creepy sometimes. I can handle her in small doses. It's not going to be like we have to do everything with them though. There's shopping and winter activities, spas, theaters all kinds of things we can do without them if need be." She kissed him again. "Now let's finish packing. I need to remember to put that little lacy number in the bag before we go."

"Don't worry, I'll remind you." Howard growled.

* * *

Raj grabbed his beautiful lady's last bag and put it in the trunk of his car. He climbed behind the wheel and started the car. "I checked the accommodations and it seems to be a very nice place to stay. It has four and a half stars on Yelp."

She continued to stare out of the car window, pointedly ignoring him. He continued, nonplussed. "I made sure to schedule you an appointment for a massage and a pedicure. They have treats they leave on your pillow each night, and special breakfast in bed options." Still no reaction from her just silence. "There's an attached door that leads to a patio where you can sit and take in the scenery." He was still being ignored and he knew why. "Fine, I know you're angry at me, but there was nothing I could do about it. It's only one weekend out of our lives. We can spend some quality time next weekend all by ourselves. What do you say?" She turned her attention back to Raj, and he leaned over to receive a kiss with lots of tongue. He straightened up, eyes on the road. "Now let's get you to the kennel, Cinnamon.

* * *

Amy knocked on the door of 4A, but no one answered. She thought she heard a voice coming from the apartment and tried the knob. It was locked. Penny just happened to open her door at the same time, carrying a laundry basket. "Hey Ames, you coming by to see Sheldon?"

"I was but no one answered the door and I think I hear Sheldon's voice." She pressed her ear to the door. "Is he...singing?"

"Penny started grinning. "Sheldon singing! That never happens. I wonder if he's in the shower."

A flicker of a smile started to form on Amy's lips. "We should check on him. Right now. But for some reason the door is locked."

Penny pulled out her keys and placed the key in the lock. "I'll let you in first, I don't want to take any chances of seeing a naked wet Sheldon." Both women shivered, Penny in revulsion, Amy in anticipation. Penny pushed the door open and Amy entered the apartment before stopping dead in her tracks. Penny peeked into the apartment, fearing the worst, but then dropped her laundry on the floor and pulled out her phone and started filming the sight in front of her.

Sheldon was in front of his white board, marker in hand and headphones on. And he was singing.

"If you can see that I'm the one who understands you.

Been here all along so why can't you see,

You belong with me.

Standing by and waiting at your back door.

All this time how could you not know?

Baby, you belong with oh dear Lord!" Sheldon had turned around and saw the two women standing behind him. Penny stood with her phone in front of her and Amy was right beside her, both deeply amused. His hand went to his heart, to keep it from leaping from his chest from that last jolt of adrenaline. "The door was locked for a reason!"

"Though no one would ever guess this was why." Penny laughed.

Sheldon shot Penny a haughty look. "I never break into your home without knocking."

Penny looked him square in the eye. "Within a week of moving in to this building, you entered my apartment and organized it while I slept." She crossed her arms and tilted her head.

"Well I rarely break in." He muttered.

"What were you doing Sheldon?" Amy put her purse down and sat in her spot.

"As you know a few weeks ago I used anxiety to optimize my work productivity. I made some amazing breakthroughs. However because of the use of anxiety I lost sleep, was ejected from my girlfriend's apartment and received odd stares from an armadillo on the bus." Penny and Amy frowned. "Long story. Anyway, I found that Ms. Swift does increase my productivity over silence, just not as well as Darth Vader, Godzilla and the Joker."

"See Sheldon, I knew you didn't need to stress yourself out to produce good quality work." Amy smiled at him. "I'm proud of you."

Sheldon felt that warm glow he always felt when Amy said something nice to him. It was like being immersed in warm bathwater. His entire body relaxed from his earlier scare at those four simple words spoken by her. He smiled back at her. "Thank you Amy. And thank you for helping me when I was struggling and not making any sense. I like it when we support one another." He put his headphones and marker down and came and sat by Amy's side. Their eyes met sending shivers down both their spines. They were rounding eye coitus third base when Penny interrupted them.

"Are you two still joining us for dinner tomorrow?" Penny felt a bit like a third wheel.

Amy reluctantly tore her gaze away from Sheldon. "Yes, we're looking forward to it." Sheldon sighed as if the whole world was against him. Amy changed her answer. "Well I'm looking forward to it."

"Moroccan food? Who came up with that horrible idea?" Sheldon shuddered. "Eating with ones hands from a communal plate of lamb? Just give me a dose of Clostridium and E. coli now and save me the fuss of wearing an itchy suit." He folded his arms and sulked.

Amy sighed. "Sheldon, I told you we are not ordering lamb dishes, and you can have a separate plate and a fork."

"We're probably going to sit on the floor like hippies too. The things one does for love." He muttered.

"You know what, if you don't want to go, we won't go." Amy said curtly.

"Oh, no we're going. I've learned it's better to go through with an evening and complain about it, than to refuse to go and have your girlfriend complain about for the next week." Sheldon groused. He looked at Amy, who was looking at him with an unamused look.

"Neither of those seems like a good option." She said quietly.

"They really aren't." He agreed.

"Soooooo. Any other exciting plans?" Penny interjected to break up the tension.

"Ooh yes. After dinner Amy has agreed to come back here to watch the newly released season four Blu-ray of 'Game of Thrones.'" Sheldon said excitedly.

"Oh Amy, you lucky gal." Penny smirked. "At least you'll have Jon Snow to keep you interested." She winked at Amy.

Amy tried to hide a smile, but Sheldon caught it. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Amy was going to deny what Penny was talking about when Penny chirped, "Amy thinks he's hot!"

Amy's eyes got big and she broadly began to shake her head. "No I don't."

Sheldon looked confused as Penny continued to tease Amy. "Then how come you have a picture of him on your phone?"

Amy was blushing and her hands were sweaty. "I have a lot of different pictures on my phone." She grabbed her phone and scrolled through her photos. "See a capuchin, a chimp, a picture of Sheldon, a kitten, oh ignore that one, and that one, um a starfish…" She looked up at Sheldon who was looking back with a puzzled look on his face.

"Well, I need to finish this laundry." Penny picked up her basket and walked to the door. "You two kids have a nice afternoon." She closed the door and trotted down the stairs.

* * *

Raj grabbed his other beautiful lady's bag from her and put it in the trunk. They got in the car and headed towards Howard and Bernadette's apartment. "Emily, I have a special romantic weekend planned. Skiing, snowshoeing, a sleigh ride for two. I have reservations at the best restaurant in town and a little out of the way spot for cocktails afterwards." He took her hand and kissed it. "And I will be in charge of dessert."

Emily smiled at her charming boyfriend. He really went all out when it came to romance, and he was very good at it. "It sounds really great. I was online checking out the hotel we are going to be at, and it looks like they are having an anime convention during our stay. Did you guys do that on purpose, or is it coincidental?"

"No, but that is pretty cool. Howard and I love anime. We may need to check it out." He looked at Emily, and noticed her lips were pursed. "But on further thought, this weekend is supposed to be romantic for both of us, and I have to concentrate on my beautiful fiery temptress, not the convention."

"A wise choice." Emily stated.

* * *

Penny was reading a magazine when Leonard came over. "I may have broken the Shamy."

Leonard frowned. "What did you do?"

Penny flipped a page. "I kind of outed Amy to Sheldon for drooling over that Jon Snow guy on 'Game of Thrones.' I left before bad things happened." She flipped another page.

"Why would you do that for?" Leonard said exasperated. "You know who Sheldon is going to come to for advice or reassurance, me." He rubbed his forehead with his hand. He looked at Penny with questioning eyes. "Amy likes Jon Snow, huh?"

Penny grinned. "She does seem to have a thing for sexually inexperienced men."

Leonard sat down next to her on the couch. "So do you think anyone on 'Game of Thrones' is handsome?" Leonard started to stare deep into her eyes.

"That Kingslayer guy is pretty hot." She teased.

"Yeah, he kind of is." Leonard said as he kissed her.

* * *

Amy regretted the night when Penny got her to admit she thought that Jon Snow was kinda cute. It was an offhand remark that spurred Penny into texting her pictures of him. She had not thought to erase them. And now Sheldon was eyeing her with suspicion. "Sheldon, I have no romantic interest in that guy whatsoever. Penny was making a big deal out of nothing."

"Amy, I am a grown man. I am not threatened by a fictional character on a premium cable channel." Sheldon snorted.

"That's good to know. Are you ready to go run some errands?" Amy was relieved but surprised that Sheldon was being reasonable.

"I am. We should get going." They both stood and walked to the door. They made it down half of the first flight of stairs, when Sheldon stopped and walked back to the apartment. "Sorry, I have to take care of one little thing. Wait here." He opened the door and partially closed it. He grabbed the Longclaw sword off of his wall, went to the closet and threw it in before slamming the closet door. He then rejoined Amy walking down the stairs.

* * *

The flight to Aspen was uneventful, except for the fact that it was snowing heavily on landing at the airport. The weather worsened on the taxi trip over to the airport, and by the time they reached the hotel the snow was blowing sideways, pelting them with hard bits of ice. The windswept quartet made their way to the front desk and checked in.

"Wow that was wild. We made it just in time." Emily looked out at the near whiteout conditions outside.

"I guess this is going to cancel most of the activities I had planned for us." Raj said his voice dripping with disappointment.

"And I guess this means we are going to be stuck together in the hotel all weekend." Bernie said between her teeth.

"It does look that way." Howard took two keycards from the desk clerk.

At this point several women in school girl outfits walked by with pink, green and blue hair. "What's the deal with them?" Bernie watched the school girls walk to the elevator.

"There's an anime convention going on this weekend as well in the hotel. We're going to see a lot of people in all kinds of costumes" Raj replied.

They walked over to the elevators as well. The school girls had already caught an elevator so they had the next one to themselves. They got on and pushed the button for the eighth floor.

"Well the convention shouldn't impact us too much, even if we are going to be stuck in the hotel." Howard said as the elevator doors opened.

Before them a chubby lady with long blonde ponytails, a sailor top and a much too short shirt asked. "Going down?"

Raj and Howard froze staring at the familiar woman in front of them.

The woman looked at them and then her face lit up in recognition. "Hey, I know you guys! It's me! Patricia, from Comic con!" She smiled and eyed the boys up and down before addressing Raj. "Hey cutie, you still can't talk in front of the ladies? Not that you needed to."

Raj swallowed hard and whispered. "I wish."

* * *

**A/N: Did you get fooled by my version of Emily or Cinnamon? Maybe. How are Raj and Howard going to deal with 200 lbs of Sailor Moon? Carefully. Is Sheldon jealous of a fictional character from premium cable? Absolutely. Are you going to leave a review? Definitely.**


	2. Chapter 2

**The 53 Degrees Destiny**

* * *

**A/N: So if you also read The 95 Degrees Destiny have you caught some of the differences yet? True it is a completely different story, but there are similar elements. You're a pretty smart crowd, I bet you got them.**

* * *

Amy and Sheldon had a busy afternoon running errands all over town. First stop was the train store to pick up a boxcar for his HO scale train. They then headed to Target, the bank, the dry cleaners and the mall. At the mall Amy tried to steer Sheldon into Victoria's Secret. It wasn't the first time she had tried to do so.

"Come on Sheldon, you can give me your opinion on what to buy, or what you like." She gave him a very naughty smile that made him gulp.

"As the stores name is Victoria's Secret, I believe it is best to keep such things secret, thank you very much." Sheldon began backing away from the store like he was trying to avoid a hungry mountain lion instead of colorful strips of lace and silk.

"But I wanted to get your opinion on something." Amy said with disappointment.

"You have been choosing undergarments for yourself for several years before I came along. You will do just fine without my help today." Sheldon told her. "In fact I feel a little dizzy. I'm going to get a frozen yogurt, in the food court and sit down. I think I'm suffering from a hypoglycemic event."

_Well, it was worth a shot._ "Fine, Sheldon." She sighed. "It won't take me long. Go sit down and call me if you feel worse." She turned and walked into the overly pink lingerie store.

Sheldon truthfully did feel dizzy, but it had nothing to do with his blood sugar. He had never had a problem looking at women's under things before. In fact he didn't even have a problem touching intimate apparel before. Years before he never had a second thought before befouling the trees and telephone lines outside of his apartment with Penny's panties. Holding a bra would carry no more stigma than holding a baseball cap. This was a recent issue with him, only over the past year or so. It was only when he started to admire Amy's body as well as her mind, that panties, bras and other frilly see through things began to affect him.

His yogurt was starting to melt without him having taken a single bite. He was caught up in thoughts of Amy wearing the emerald green bra and panty set in the front window of the store, when she walked up to him. He jolted from his thoughts with a feeling of shame.

"Are you doing OK?" She asked concerned.

"Fine, just fine." Sheldon replied, a light sheen of perspiration on his face.

"Are you sure? You look a bit sweaty?"Amy set her shopping bags down on the table, her face lined with concern.

"I'm fine; I was just preoccupied by something." Sheldon smiled weakly. "Are you ready to go?"

Actually I need to use the ladies room. Can I leave these here with you for a moment?"

"Of course. Then it's off to the pharmacy and time to head home." Sheldon agreed.

Amy walked away towards the restroom. The small pink and white striped bag just happened to be the nearest bag to Sheldon. As he stared at it, the bag seemed to mock him and to entice him, like the unknown mysteries of Pandora's Box. He looked in the direction she left in, and saw no trace of her. He raised a hand hesitantly; his index finger pointed, and tilted the top of the bag towards him. He saw a splash of dove grey material at the bottom of the bag, but couldn't make out what it was. He looked to see if she was coming and when he saw the coast was clear, he dipped a hand in the bag and pulled out a lacy grey bra and matching panties. He ran his thumb over the smooth material, marveling at the silkiness of the fabric. He imagined the grey wrapped around the more curvy parts of his girlfriend.

"Looks like the secrets out." Amy said quietly behind him.

Sheldon jumped, heart racing and stuffed the lingerie back into the bag.

* * *

Penny and Leonard had decided to spend their evening at the movies. They looked at the choices on Penny's laptop. "Oh, there is a documentary on the history of superconductors." Leonard exclaimed excitedly.

"No." Penny vetoed him. She scanned the listings. "How about 'Harvest of Winter.' A terminally ill teenager finds love before it's too late."

"Only if you promise we can get mani pedi's after." Leonard rolled his eyes. "What about the latest movie based on a video game, 'Pac Man.' It has Vin Diesel in it." His smile faded as he looked at her.

"No." Penny shook her head. "We are never going to decide this way. Look, lets look at which movie has the best reviews and go see that." Leonard agreed.

That is how they ended up looking at a sexy spy movie with a leading lady who could not keep her clothes on for more than ten minutes. "This movie got 4 stars?" Penny asked.

"That's what the website said." Leonard nodded. "It's not half bad until the plot gets in the way."

The busty main character was in a movie theater, trying to squeeze information out of a ruggedly handsome man. She started snaking her hand in between his thighs and soon he was giving her a lot more than the secrets she had originally asked for.

Leonard leaned over and whispered to Penny. "Have you ever fooled around in a movie theater?"

"I've made out before, there was a bit of groping, but nothing like that." Penny stared at the screen and tilted her head sideways. "OK, that doesn't look physically possible."

Leonard looked around the sparsely occupied theater. They were sitting towards the back and there was no one behind them. Leonard gave Penny a sideways glance. "Do you want to?"

Penny looked at Leonard surprised. "What if we get caught?"

"This coming from the woman who once defiled a Chili's?" Leonard grinned.

"Fair enough." Penny leaned over and kissed Leonard passionately. He responded instantly, caressing her breasts and working his lips down her neck. She threw her head back to give Leonard's wayward lips more access. Her hands began to travel down his torso to his pants zipper. He gasped at her touch and began to assault her neck with even more passion.

"Mmmmm." She groaned.

Leonard took his lips off her neck just long enough to warn her. "Shhh. You need to be quiet." He reattached himself to her supple neck. His hands found the hem of her skirt and traveled underneath until they found her panties. They writhed around each other like snakes until a light shined on them, making them both jump. They looked up to find a scrawny teenage boy in a movie employee uniform gawking at them. "That is by far the hottest thing I have ever seen in real life, but I'm going to have to ask you two to leave."

Penny readjusted her skirt and ran a hand through her short hair. She got up face flushed and stumbled down the aisle to the exit, Leonard right behind her. The teenage boy watched them go with a tinge of regret.

* * *

Howard and Raj stood and stared at the woman before them. Their past had come back to haunt them, at the worst possible moment ever. Emily hit the door open button on the elevator as the doors were closing. "You seem to know each other pretty well. Did you say you met at Comic con?"

"You have got to be kidding!" Bernadette spat out. "Is this the woman you had a three-way with at Comic con?" She stared daggers at Howard.

"Oh, you know about that? I told all my friends too. It was a pretty awesome night." Patricia said nodding with a huge smile.

"I'm not his friend, I'm his wife." Bernadette fumed.

"You were married? That's really not cool, dude." The plus size Sailor Moon shook her ponytails in disapproval. "You weren't married too were you?" She turned to Raj.

"I wasn't married then." Howard protested. "Raj has never been married. Look, it was a bad decision we made one night a long time ago back when Raj and I were desperately horny." He wheeled his suitcase out of the elevator dragging Bernadette by the hand. "Now if you will excuse us, we need to get to our room." He dragged a protesting Bernadette down the hallway and to their room.

Emily and Raj exited the elevator slowly. "It was nice meeting you again. I hope you enjoy the convention." He gave Patricia an uneasy smile.

"It was nice seeing you again too. And nice to finally talk to you." Patricia eyed Raj up and down. "I don't suppose you two would want to meet up later…" She trailed off.

"No. No we wouldn't." Raj stated emphatically. He turned to look at Emily, expecting to see disapproval, but instead saw...amusement. "No."

"Too bad. That thing you do with your tongue is...extraordinary." Sailor Moon sighed.

"It is, isn't it?" Emily said in a conspiratorial voice. She took a confused Raj by the hand and led him down the hallway to their room.

* * *

Amy and Sheldon were driving to the last stop on their afternoon of errands, the pharmacy. They hadn't talked much after Sheldon was caught red handed and red faced in her bag of lingerie. Amy knew if she brought up the topic or teased him, he might just shut down and years of progress would be lost. That's why she was shocked when he started to talk about it.

"Why grey?" Sheldon asked, still staring through the passenger window.

"Pardon me?"

"Why grey underwear? What made you choose grey?"

"Well, I like the color grey and it's not a color I've seen often used for undergarments, so it stood out for me. It had a very feminine design with a demi cup. Plus it was on sale." Amy explained.

"It's not because of anyone in particular?" Sheldon asked again quietly.

Amy felt a thrill go through her. Was he just suggesting she bought the underwear for him? Did he want her to model it for him? "Wha-what do you mean?"

"Jon Snow."

Amy was not expecting that answer. "You think I bought sexy underwear for a fictional character? Why in the world would you think that?"

"It's grey."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Amy was losing her patience.

Sheldon still was looking at the passing scenery. "Grey and white are the colors of House Stark."

"Sheldon, why would I waste my money, buying underwear in a certain color, because it's the favorite color of a made up guy on some TV show?" Amy couldn't believe she was having this conversation.

"It's not his favorite color; it's the color of the house he's affiliated with. That's like saying Harry Potter's favorite colors are red and gold." Sheldon snorted.

"Sheldon. I bought that set of underwear because I thought it was pretty. Not because I am secretly drooling over some guy on TV." They had arrived at the pharmacy and she abruptly swung into a parking space and stopped the car. "The only person I currently buy underwear for is myself because it makes me feel pretty and confident. If one day you want to have some input on what type and color of panties I wear, you are more than welcome to. If you wanted to, you could have helped me pick out something today but you refused. Now go get your prescription. I'm going to wait here." She crossed her arms and stared straight ahead.

Sheldon slunk out of the car and walked into the pharmacy like a chastised child. He picked up his prescription and was on his way out the door, when a middle aged man with an orange tan bumped into him, causing both of their small white bags to go flying. "Sorry there fella." The man muttered, clapping Sheldon on the back after picking up a bag from the floor.

Sheldon shrunk away from the contact and picked up the remaining bag, glaring at the man. He walked back to Amy's car, not looking forward to the ride home.

The rest of the trip was quiet and uncomfortable. As Amy pulled up to Sheldon's place, she didn't park in a spot, she just pulled over. "Good night Sheldon." She said curtly.

Sheldon was surprised he was being sent off alone. "You don't want to come up?"

"No. I just want to go home. What time should I pick you up for dinner tomorrow?"

Sheldon was a little hurt that Amy didn't want to spend the day with him. "Um six?"

"OK, well good night then." Amy dismissed him.

Sheldon went to the trunk and grabbed his purchases then gently closed the lid. Before he had a chance to say anything more she pulled away from the curb and drove away, leaving Sheldon alone on the sidewalk.

* * *

"Well that was embarrassing." Penny sighed as she put her seatbelt on in the car.

"It was, but like that kid said, it was getting pretty hot." Leonard grinned.

"It was." Penny gave him a mischievous smile. "You know, this parking lot is fairly empty." She looked around the dimly lit area and saw not a soul. "Should we continue what we started?"

Leonard answered by leaning over and taking her bottom lip in his, sucking on it with wild abandon. Penny ran her hands through his hair and kissed him back with the same intensity. After a few minutes, clothes in disarray, Leonard panted, "Let's get in the back seat." They both opened their doors and quickly got in the back seat, Penny straddling Leonard's lap and nipping his neck as Leonard pulled up the hem of her skirt and lowered her panties, which were quickly discarded.

Penny's hands found Leonard's pants zipper, lowering it, her hands shaking with excitement. Leonard ran his hands under her top, making her moan, before they repositioned themselves and joined together. The windows fogged quickly from their activities, affording some privacy as they were finally able to finish what they started in the theater.

* * *

Howard opened the door for a fuming Bernadette. Before she could say anything he began. "Bernie, I know that the last person we wanted to ever meet is here on our romantic getaway. But what happened with her was a long time ago, and I was a different person then. I bet there has been something in your past relationships that you may not be proud of."

Bernadette opened her mouth and shut it. Howard could see her anger ebbing away slowly. "Just because I have done a few things I'm not proud of in the past doesn't mean that I have to be happy that she is here."

"I understand." Howard nodded. He paused. "Wait. What do you have to be ashamed of?"

Bernadette shook her head. "It's not important." She walked over to the bathroom. "Wow look at the size of that bathroom."

"Bernie? Tell me."

"And look at the tub!"

* * *

"So a three-way huh? Were all of you dressed up, or just her?" Emily quizzed Raj when they entered the hotel room.

"Howard was dressed as Captain America and I was dressed as Thor." Raj confessed.

"Interesting. Avengers assemble indeed." Emily grinned. She started to remove her top and gave Raj a smoldering look. "So, tell me more about what went on that evening." She walked slowly over to a shocked but aroused Raj, and ran a finger down his chest. "And don't leave out any little detail." She tilted her head and licked her lips.

Raj told the lurid story from that evening so long ago, while Emily removed all of her clothing and then all of his. Then after telling the story once, thirty minutes later he told her the story again.

* * *

Amy was grabbing her bags out of the trunk when she noticed a little white bag she didn't recognize. Realizing it was Sheldon's prescription, she looked in the bag to see if she needed to run it back over to his apartment tonight, or if it was something that could wait till tomorrow. By the weak glow of the trunk light she read the label on the bottle.

Viagra.

* * *

**A/N: This story will not be finished on time. But it will be finished. I wouldn't leave Amy or you hanging on too long after discovering Viagra in "Sheldon's" bag. I promise. Reviews are always welcome.**


	3. Chapter 3

**The 53 Degrees Destiny  
**

* * *

**A/N: Hey guys, it's been a while. If you are still reading this story, despite the large gap in between, thank you. Life got in the way of this fanfic and it got neglected and placed on the very, very, very, back burner, but I'm back!**

**This chapter is dedicated to the lovely Hazelra7, who never ceases to amaze me with her level of awesomeness and creativity. If you haven't read her stuff you have not truly lived.**

**This chapter is also dedicated to the beautiful, witty and generous Mamallama, who has brightened my April considerably. Thank you!**

* * *

Amy dropped the pill vial back into the bag as if it had scalded her. _Viagra? Why in the world is Sheldon taking Viagra? Oh God, why does Sheldon __**need**__ to take Viagra? No wonder he is so hesitant to become intimate, poor guy, he is unable to… to... But wait? He has a prescription for Viagra, so maybe he wants to try to become intimate soon? _Amy's feelings were conflicted as she took the small paper bag and her other purchases upstairs with her.

She put the small bag on the kitchen counter and just stared at it. She was still upset at Sheldon, but wanted him to know that his pills were accounted for. She decided to just send a brief text message so he wouldn't fret over his Viagra going missing._ Oh my God! Sheldon has Viagra!_

She pulled out her phone and tapped out a message with shaky hands.

**A- Sheldon you left your prescription in my car.**

A few minutes went by before his alarming answer.

**S- Its OK. I have enough of my old prescription to take one tonight. I'll get it when you pick me up tomorrow.**

Her brain would not shut down enough to let her sleep so Amy woke up the next morning with dark circles under her eyes. She was exhausted and still troubled that Sheldon was taking an erectile dysfunction drug when he was home by himself. She lay in bed, staring at the early morning sun beams scattered across her bedroom and sighed. What was she going to say when she saw him tonight?

Over in Pasadena, Sheldon also didn't sleep well, his overactive imagination taking control. What Amy had told him last night about having him choose underwear that she would wear just for him made it impossible for him to think of anything but that. He dreamt of Amy clad only in her grey unmentionables wielding the Longclaw sword and yelling a spirited battle cry as she leapt into the fray. He awoke from that dream trembling and sweaty with lingering whispers of a warrior queen fading in the dark stillness of his room. After laying his head down, they were at the mall again, only this time he was lured into the store by her sweet siren song and beckoning sea green eyes. He pointed mutely to the emerald bra and panty set in the window, which she removed from the mannequin and took into the dressing room with a knowing wink. He sat there holding her purse in his lap, like a condemned man who had accepted his fate. His nerves were as taut as a bow string when he heard her husky voice softly call him over to the dressing room. He warily crept over, purse in front of him like a shield and asked with a tremor in his voice what she wanted. She swung the dressing room door open revealing contours to rival a Lissajous curve and asked his opinion of his selection. Sheldon had to admit that her body was just as impressive as her mind, as his eyes rounded and his pulse quickened. He would have noticed that the green shimmery fabric complimented her luminous eyes, but Sheldon was definitely not looking her in the eye.

"Well this is not fair." Amy eyed him like he was a highly coveted chrome plated C3PO Lego minifig. He looked up and was confused because her eyes danced with fire, but her lips pouted with disappointment.

"Wh-what's not fair?" Sheldon's voice quavered.

Amy gave him a coquettish glance as she grabbed his hand and pulled him towards her, making him drop her purse. She pulled him into her soft curves and whispered in his ear, "You can see my underwear, but I can't see yours." Her hands began to work on his trouser button. Though it was surprising that Amy would do such a thing in a place of business, the most shocking thing was that he began to help her, shaky hands pulling down his fly.

He awoke in a pool of sweat and shame, panting, remembering his girlfriend's ravenous eyes. Who would have thought that women's lingerie was the great Sheldon Cooper's undoing?

Despite the distracting fantasies he arose at 6:15 the next morning as was his habit, and went directly to the high fiber end of the cereal selections. Bowl in hand he sat on the couch and turned on the TV. BBC America hadn't shown Dr. Who at 6:30am in years, but Sheldon had them all and selected an episode to watch.

After breakfast, his thoughts turned to Amy again. He was having difficult time thinking about her in anything but underwear. He knew she was mad at him, though he wasn't 100% sure why. But he was surprised that she didn't want to spend the entire day with him, especially on this sappy romantic day. He showered, rearranged his closet and looked through his medicine cabinet for expired medications. This reminded him of his prescription at Amy's place. He needed to remember to ask her to bring it. He picked up his phone to text her when Leonard entered the living room.

"Good morning Sheldon." Leonard greeted him brightly with a large grin.

"Is it?" Sheldon replied irritated. A tired Sheldon is a crabby Sheldon.

"It is indeed." Leonard smiled back. Car sex was the best thing to happen to Leonard in a long time, and Sheldon could not ruin today if he tried. "Come on Sheldon. We're young and in love with two beautiful women who adore us and today is the day dedicated to love. You should show Amy how much you love her today."

Sheldon started tapping a message on his phone. "That's exactly what I'm afraid of."

**S- Good morning Amy. I hope you are no longer upset with me. Can you bring over my prescription when you pick me up? I need to take one tonight.**

Leonard walked to the front door. "Well as it is now after eleven, I am going to spend the rest of the day with the woman I love. We'll meet up back here around 5:30 for dinner at 6?"

"OK. I'm still not happy about where we are going to eat." Sheldon sulked as he waited for a response from Amy.

"Duly noted." Leonard said with a dazzling smile as he closed the door.

_Leonard could really be annoying when he was happy. I should put a stop to that._ Sheldon's phone chimed.

**A- You take them daily?**

Sheldon frowned and tapped away on his phone.

**S- For the last six years.**

Several minutes passed by and Sheldon almost didn't think she received the message when her reply came.

**A- I'll make sure to bring them.**

* * *

Bernadette, Howard, Raj and Emily met up for breakfast. They sat next to a large window, the wind howling and swirling like a hungry pale beast, driving hard bits of snow against the panes. Raj and Emily were feeding each other bits of melon and gazing deep into each others eyes. In comparison, Howard was still wondering about the skeletons in Bernadette's closet. She had remained tight lipped all evening as Howard repeatedly asked about what she had meant. Bernadette changed the subject each time it was brought up. She marveled at the size of the room and the thread count of the sheets. He persisted and received a lecture on how interesting it was that the soap in the bathroom was French milled and how good goat's milk was for the skin. Howard spent a restless night wondering what his self proclaimed "good girl" was hiding. He studied her profile, the picture of innocence and modesty, and tried to guess her deep and dark secret.

Bernie's focus was on her eggs, but she felt her husband's eyes on her and looked over at him. He returned her gaze steadily and cracked a tender smile._ Crap she was going to have to tell him._ She knew that Howard was no prude. The little bit of investigation into his past told her that. It wasn't that she thought he would judge her either. Howard was the rare male who would not care if she had done something lurid in her past, as long as she wasn't still doing such things with other men now. It was mostly her own embarrassment that kept Howard out of the loop. But once they were alone she would tell him.

She turned her attention away from her husband and towards the two lovebirds in front of her. Emily seems to have taken the news of the three way well. They couldn't take their eyes off of each other the entire time. She looked back at Howie, who gave her another sweet smile. Yes, he deserved to know.

* * *

Leonard walked into Penny's place to find her filling a basket with dirty laundry. He gave her a lingering kiss on the lips instead of their routine peck on the cheek.

"Morning stud." She said with a purr and a half smile.

"Good morning to you, beautiful lady." Leonard grinned back. Would you like some help with that laundry?"

"Sure." Penny handed him the laundry basket as she grabbed the detergent and sashayed out of the apartment. Leonard's gaze followed the rocking sway of her hips as she walked out of the apartment in front of him.

Leonard caught up with her and they walked in tandem down the stairs to the laundry room. "Did you have a good time last night?"

Penny bit back a face splitting smile. "I did. It was a bit embarrassing getting busted by that kid in the movies, but it was really hot in the car afterwards."

"Insanely hot." Leonard agreed. "I had never done anything that crazy before. Except that time with us in the ocean." He puffed up with pride.

"Oh my poor sheltered Sweetie." Penny frowned. "I forgot that you didn't have the same… opportunities as some people your age."

"Yes, I have had an underprivileged youth." Leonard said with mock sadness.

As they neared the laundry room, Penny made a decision. They sorted the laundry and put them into a couple of washers. Leonard grabbed the now empty laundry basket and turned to leave. He stopped in his tracks as he watched Penny close the door and flip the lock. "What are you doing?"

Penny walked slowly over to Leonard and took the basket out of his hands and set it aside. "We are going to fool around in the laundry room." She clutched the back of his neck and kissed him deeply, making Leonard moan.

As they parted Leonard gave Penny a puzzled look. "B-b-but a few years back I tried to fool around with you on top of the washing machine and you said no."

Penny's face became solemn. "That's because we are not going to have sex on the washing machine. Everyone knows that the dryers have more structural integrity." She dove into his lips again with no further arguments from Leonard.

* * *

Sheldon went downstairs to start his laundry early, as he would not be home during his usual laundry time. He was surprised to find the door closed and locked. He jiggled the knob and frowned. He huffed back up the stairs and left a scathing voicemail on the super's phone. An hour later he went back and found the room deserted, the hum of clothes dryers the only sound. He started his wash and returned upstairs.

As he waited on his laundry he wondered if Amy was still mad at him. He didn't like it when she was mad at him. He never liked it when his mom or meemaw was upset with him either, but this was different. It was almost physically painful when Amy was angry at him. It was then that he decided that angry or not, he wanted to spend the rest of Valentine's Day with her. He finished his laundry and went next door to get a ride. Not getting an answer from the occupants of 4B he put on his bus pants and left.

* * *

After breakfast there wasn't much to do so the two couples decided to do a little people watching. Raj and Howard were not strangers to dressing up or Anime, and identified the colorful characters for the girls as they walked through the lobby.

Raj pointed to a spiky headed blonde teen with a sword the size of an ironing board. "There is Cloud Strife from Final Fantasy 7."

"What is he carrying?" Bernadette asked.

"A BFS." Howard chuckled.

"What's a BFS?" Emily questioned Howard.

"Well the b stands for big and the s stands for sword..." Howard trailed off, letting the girls come to their own conclusions.

"Fantasy?" Bernadette asked brightly.

"No..." Raj said slowly.

The girls looked at each other with understanding. "Oh."

"Those two with the wings are Cain and Abel from Trinity Blood. They feed off of vampires." Raj pointed to a pair of young men. "There is a group from Dragonball Z, schoolgirls, more school girls." Raj yelled across the room. "Hey that's a great Domo costume." He waved and gave a thumbs up to a big brown monster that waved back. A group of women in full hoopskirts glided by with elaborate makeup and hairstyles that Bernadette and Emily couldn't believe would take less than four hours to assemble.

"These people go all out, don't they?" Emily shook her head. "Oh look its Sally from Nightmare before Christmas!"

"Yeah, she's not technically considered Anime, but no one really cares, people are just here to have fun and dress up." Howard explained. "There are booths upon booths of costumes, toys and movies of every genre you can think of."

"Well maybe later, you two can scope out the booths while Bernadette and I are at the spa." Emily smiled.

Howard nodded. "That sounds like fun."

"Well that's still a few hours away. I think I need some alone time with my husband." Bernie grabbed Howard's hand and led him to the bank of elevators.

"I guess they made up." Raj shrugged.

"We could pretend that we had a fight and go make up." Emily said as she ran a finger up and down Raj's chest.

"I'm so sorry about that thing I did." Raj said as he kissed her tenderly.

* * *

Sheldon made good time to Glendale and knocked on Amy's door in his usual manner.

Amy looked towards the door and cursed softly. She hadn't yet come to grips about Sheldon's...condition. She was hoping she would have had more time to prepare herself. "Sheldon? Can you let yourself in, I'm trapped on the couch at the moment."

Sheldon became concerned at this and brought his keys out, fumbling them in his haste. He finally located the right key and entered. He found Amy in her robe, her hair in a towel painting her toenails. "Amy, why did you say you were trapped? I was worried."

"Well, I could have hobbled to the door, but my toes are wet. You have a key so I figured you could let yourself in. Why are you here, and why didn't you call first?" She hunched over and started on a second coat. It was easier to concentrate on her toes than her boyfriend and why he needed that prescription bottle on her counter.

Sheldon saw how Amy was bent over painting her toenails. "Amy you look uncomfortable, let me have that." Sheldon took the brush out of her hand and sat down swinging her feet into his lap. Amy wouldn't have believed that Sheldon would willingly do something so personal. But in Sheldon's mind he just wanted to help her, as she looked unnaturally bent. "I take it I'm just applying another coat?" Amy nodded speechless. Sheldon started to brush the toenail, holding her foot like it was made of eggshells.

Amy's power of speech slowly returned as she watched her boyfriend meticulously paint the red polish on her toes. "I-I-I thought I was picking you up tonight?" She stammered.

"You were, but I thought we should spend the afternoon together." Sheldon stated as he released her first foot and gingerly lifted the second.

"What did you want to do?" Amy asked in a quiet voice.

"Oh, it doesn't have to be anything elaborate. We could watch a movie or make cookies." He didn't look up from his work, otherwise he would have seen Amy melting on the spot. Not only was Sheldon touching her bare foot and painting her toenails, he took it upon himself to make sure they spent the majority of the day together. She quivered, at the very thought of it.

He finished the last toenail, putting the brush back in the bottle and looked at Amy with a serious expression. "I don't have much experience with nail polish Amy, but I do remember what my sister used to do to make it dry faster." Sheldon bent his neck down closer to her feet and gently blew on them.

Amy shivered at the cool thin puffs of air caressing her toes. She watched Sheldon's mouth part to take in more air and purse together to send a gentle breeze over her lucky feet. He continued this for about five minutes, the only sound in the room was his steady blowing breath before looking up at Amy. "I don't know how you gals do this without hyperventilating."

"I know." Amy croaked out between rapid shallow breaths.

* * *

Bernadette let them into their hotel room and led him to the bed. "Howie, I need to tell you something that I'm not very proud of." Bernadette sat down on the edge of the bed looking down at her knees.

Howard sat next to her and scooped her tiny hand in his. Bernie squeezed his hand and continued to stare at her knees while she talked. "A few years before I met you, I started dating this guy I went to school with. After we became intimate, he told me about this sexual fantasy that he had. At first I just laughed it off and thought he was joking. But he persisted and persisted and eventually he wore me down." She took a deep breath and continued. "I was very nervous the first night. I trembled and my voice was shaking. By the time we stopped though, I felt empowered and more alive than I had in a long time. We continued for a few months, but then things just sort of fizzled. I felt guilty over the whole affair and just felt used." Bernadette finally looked up at Howard, looking for compassion and finding it.

Howard rubbed her hand with his thumb and smiled encouragingly at her. "You never told me exactly what it was that you did with this guy that was so troubling to you. But I bet it isn't anything too bad. What exactly happened?"

"Well, you know that '50 Shades of Grey' movie that just came out?" Bernadette squirmed.

Howard's interest was piqued. "Yeah…"

"Well, very similar to that." Bernie whispered. "Controlling another person's pleasure. Discipline and restraints. Obeying commands. Domination and submission."

"Really." Howard was stunned and a bit aroused. "So you did this but didn't enjoy it?"

"I actually thought it was fun once in a while. But he wanted to do it all the time, which made me feel like that was all I was there for." Bernie confessed. "I wouldn't be opposed to doing it once in a while." She gave him a small smile. "You know, to spice things up."

"So you wouldn't mind me bending you over my knee when you were a naughty girl?" Howard whispered huskily.

Bernadette looked at him with a glint in her eye. "Actually I would mind. I much rather prefer being the one bending the naughty boy over my knee."

Howard gulped.

* * *

After Amy's nails were dry, which took thirty minutes of blowing, they had to decide on how to spend the rest of the afternoon. Amy and Sheldon, well Amy actually, thought since they were going to watch one of Sheldon's shows after dinner that it would only be fair to watch something that Amy chose before dinner. It didn't take her long to decide. "So Sheldon, since we are eating Moroccan food tonight and it's Valentine's Day, I've decided on a classic romantic movie that takes place in Morocco, 'Casablanca.'"

"'Casablanca', Amy?" Sheldon huffed.

"Yes. You don't see me pitching a fit over watching an entire season of your show tonight." Amy pointed out to him.

"We both know who you're doing that for." Sheldon muttered.

Amy didn't want to get in another argument over Jon Snow, so she bit her tongue. "Sit down and watch the movie Sheldon."

* * *

Leonard and Penny were snuggled on the couch in her apartment. The adventure in the laundry room had been exciting, especially when someone tried to open the door while they were right in the middle of things.

"That was amazing!" Leonard exclaimed.

"You are so easily impressed." Penny teased him. "So I decided that if you have the energy for it I have an interesting idea for a Valentine's Day gift. You remember what I normally give you for Valentine's?"

Leonard nodded. "Sex."

"Correct. What if I gave you a word that if you said it to me, we would stop what we're doing and have sex there and then...within reason." Penny added hastily as Leonard got a big grin on his face. "We would find somewhere private and discreetly disappear for a short while."

"And what might this word be?" Leonard asked intrigued.

"I don't know, pick one." Penny said.

"Um, how about 'Yoda?'" Leonard grinned.

"Yoda?" Penny rolled her eyes. You want to get freaky when you say Yoda?

"Jedi master he is. Many skills he has." Leonard crooned in a decent impersonation of the tiny green character.

"You're not helping your case, padawan." Penny giggled. He was such a dork. But he was her dork.

"I think I will give you the same present that you just gave me." Leonard said generously. "Say the magic word and I will hear and obey." He wiggled his eyebrows at her.

"You up for all this?" Penny looked at him skeptically.

"Absolutely." Leonard stated with an air of confidence and a determined gleam in his eye.

"Fine. My word will be 'hot.'"

"I will try to live up to the word." Leonard chuckled and kissed her gently.

* * *

Amy and Sheldon sat together watching the old black and white movie, hand in hand. As the movie ended, Amy reached for the tissues while Sheldon's eyebrows knitted.

"Why did Ilsa leave with Lazlo and not stay with Rick? I thought they still loved each other?"

"They do." Amy said while dabbing at her eyes. "But Rick knows that Ilsa will be safer leaving with Lazlo and helping him in his work with the resistance. He's being very noble and putting his love aside for the greater good."

"I don't think I could be that selfless." Sheldon said flatly. "I would want you to be safe of course, but I don't think I'd be able to send you away with another man, even if it were to save the world."

Amy looked at Sheldon, her face full of love. She was still getting used to these frequent declarations from him after years of nothing but denial and protestation. A warm flush spread from her chest and traveled to the tips of her toes. She gave him that familiar look that stopped the breath in his chest. That look that was full of promise and heat and the unknown mysteries of being out of your depth. He was still getting used to these frequent looks of yearning after years of his self denial and protests. But where he used to liken the danger in drowning in those green eyes to jumping into a stormy sea with cement shoes and an anchor around his neck, he now felt it was no more dangerous than wading at the seashore with no lifeguard on duty. This was still quite dangerous for a man who preferred the view of the ocean from the car. Mostly because sharks can't eat you in the car.

They sat there for a while, lost in each other, the air thick with possibilities. They remained that way until the alarm on Sheldon's phone went off. As the spell was broken, Sheldon and Amy shook themselves as if waking from a sweet dream.

"What was the alarm for?" Amy questioned him.

"I set the alarm to ensure you had the adequate time to dress for the evening. I have noticed for average date nights you take approximately twenty-five minutes to get ready, this is post shower. For special dates such as our anniversary and Valentine's Day it takes an additional fifteen minutes to prepare. Since you already have showered, which incidentally takes you eight to nine minutes on a workday, fifteen minutes on a date night and twenty-0ne minutes on a special occasion, this allows you your needed forty minutes. I have also factored in travel back to my place, allowing for light Saturday traffic, my pre-date shower which is always ten minutes, dressing for a special date which will take an additional ten minutes over the normal date night time. And that is if there is someone to tie my tie for me. If not, I would add an additional seven minutes or go without one." Sheldon said matter of factly. He glanced at his phone. "That explanation took a minute off of our allotted ten minutes for unforeseen incidents cushion. You probably should go get ready." Sheldon made a slight shooing motion with his hand.

Amy was turned on over Sheldon's attention to how long it took her to get ready. "That's remarkable Sheldon. You noticed I take a little longer on a special occasion. But you do as well. What do you do differently that takes ten extra minutes?" Amy asked, unconsciously twirling her hair.

Sheldon glanced at his phone, another minute had passed. He hurriedly answered to get her to go get ready faster. "It takes a little more time putting on a suit, I...um, like to make sure that I am aesthetically pleasing for you and I add an additional layer of talc to absorb…" Sheldon stopped himself, feeling he might give too much away.

"Absorb what?" Amy asked patiently.

Sheldon fidgeted, but decided the truth would be faster. "Absorb excess perspiration. I've found it is needed...um… more recently than not." He looked down at his phone again. This was not what this emergency ten minutes was for.

"Oh." Amy let the word out like a sigh. _So Sheldon was perspiring more on recent date nights? He wasn't the only one. _Amy felt a little flushed herself. "I should go get ready. I may need to brush my teeth...twice tonight. I may need a bit longer than forty minutes." Amy started to walk distractedly towards her bedroom.

"Um… Amy. Just out of idle curiosity, what takes you an additional fifteen minutes to get ready?" Sheldon asked in the most nonchalant way he could muster.

Amy was trying to make her escape to her room with the knowledge that she made her boyfriend sweat fresh in her mind. She distractedly answered as she continued to creep her way to her bedroom for a few minutes alone with her toothbrush. "Well I normally take my time massaging a scented moisturizing cream from my toes, up my legs and hips, my stomach, um... etcetera, till my skin is lightly scented and supple. Then I put a dab of matching cologne on my pulse points, you know, behind the knees, my wrists, and my neck. A little in my hair. I take extra care in dressing, down to my under garments, they are normally new for the evening, on special dates." Amy was in the hall now, needing some alone time. "Nothing too exciting. OK Sheldon, I'm going to get ready." She jetted off to the bedroom and he heard the door close with a slam.

_Nothing too exciting? _As Sheldon sat, thinking about his girlfriend applying lotion to her etcetera, he realized he would need a triple layer of talc tonight.

* * *

Emily and Bernadette reclined in thick spa robes as their feet were being massaged and pampered. "Did you and Howard make up?" Emily grinned. "You shouldn't hold something against him that happened before you met him."

Bernie sighed. "It's not just that, it's knowing that he did that with Raj. I can't see the two of them together without sometimes thinking about it."

"Me neither." Emily said with a wicked grin. "It's kind of...exciting."

Bernie gave Emily an odd look. "I'm glad you think so, but I don't exactly feel the same way."

"Look, I know that this may not be what you wanted to find out about your husband, but everyone has a few skeletons in their closet." Emily stopped. "Except maybe Sheldon. Come to think of it, I don't even think he has a closet. But anyway, Howard didn't seem proud of the fact that he and his best friend had sex with that woman in the heat of the moment. You should just forgive him and get your Valentine's Day game on."

Bernie still wasn't totally at ease with what happened. And the fact that someone who had sex with her husband and his best friend was still in the nearby vicinity creeped her out. But she saw the wisdom in Emily's words. "I guess you're right. Do you have any suggestions?"

Emily leaned in conspiratorially and quietly spoke. "I hear there are a lot of booths that sell costumes of all different varieties at the convention. I say we distract the boys and sneak down and pick out something fun. Then after dinner we **really** distract the boys."

Bernadette looked at the large grin on Emily's face. The last bit of hesitation left Bernadette and she matched Emily's smile. "Why the Hell not?"

* * *

Amy emerged on time wearing her usual blue jumper and flowered shirt. Sheldon couldn't help but imagine her new grey underwear beneath it, and pictured other things beneath the underwear when he caught the light floral scent of her skin. His voice cracked as he motioned towards the door. "Shall we go?"

"Yes, I'm all ready." Amy answered. As she walked by her kitchen counter, that disturbing white bag from the pharmacy distracted her. Her good mood lost its edge as she grabbed the bag and handed it to Sheldon. "Here is your prescription you left behind."

"Oh, right." Sheldon took the bag with a smile. "It's very important for me to take these daily. Dr. Levi says since I prefer staying home like a shut-in instead of going out like everyone else, I need to take these." He shook the bag and the pills rattled.

Amy looked aghast. "And you've been taking them for six years?"

Sheldon smiled at her. "I have. My Doctor said if I was willing to change my lifestyle and walk the streets once in a while I wouldn't need them. He said I could get what I needed within twenty minutes of leaving the apartment, especially here in Southern California. But when he insisted I go out without protection on, I declined." Amy covered her mouth with her hand at his startling confession, though Sheldon didn't seem to notice. "Who is going to stay disease free in the comfort of his own home and win a Nobel Prize doing it?" He pointed to himself with both thumbs. "This guy." He smiled at her, but noticed she looked disturbed. "Don't worry Amy, since I have started the prescription I've done well. However there was a problem when I was a kid. My pediatrician was concerned about permanent damage when I was younger, but my mom made me go out and show a little skin, despite my protests. It actually helped and now I don't have to worry about any brittle or misshapen bone." Sheldon crossed and walked to the door, not noticing Amy's purse had slithered off her arm and lay forgotten at her feet.

* * *

**A/N: Poor Amy! I'll let her and you off of the hook with the next and final chapter. Any ideas on what Sheldon's prescription is for? Send me a review if you are so inclined.**


	4. Chapter 4

**The 53 Degree Destiny**

**A/N: So yeah, I finally finished it! Thanks to Hazelra7 for input and a read through. So without any further delay...**

* * *

Bernie and Emily strolled around the many colorful booths staffed by even more vibrant characters in one of the hotels ballrooms. They marveled at the amount of attention to detail some of those costumes had. As Bernie stared with amazement at a towering man with floor length black wings, Emily made a beeline towards a selection of school girl outfits. "I bet this will get Howard's motor going." She fingered the plaid fabric and raised her eyebrows suggestively at Bernedette.

"Um, I already have one." Bernie said, voice tinged with embarrassment.

"Interesting." Emily drew the word out and smiled. "You can never make assumptions on people's personal lives by just looking at them. For example, Raj has a Uhura uniform that he had before we started dating. That was surprising." She looked at Bernie appraisingly. "I never pegged you as a naughty schoolgirl."

"Neither did I." Bernadette shook her head.

They wandered around looking for the perfect outfits. Bernadette picked up a bright pink wig and looked at it skeptically. "I just don't know what to choose." They perused the numerous colorful options, but couldn't find what they were looking for. Suddenly, Emily and Bernie turned towards a rack of clothes and saw the same outfit at the same time. They looked at each other with big grins as Bernadette pulled the costume off the rack. Bernie was betting it was the one thing that would hopefully erase the memory of Howard's three-way forever. She whipped out her credit card as Emily nodded her approval.

* * *

The ride back to 4A was quieter than normal. Sheldon noticed that Amy's mood had changed right before they left. He didn't think he did anything wrong, but from his experience with women, sometimes you didn't have to do anything to be found at fault. Amy had a hard time looking at Sheldon, and only responded back to him in monosyllabic words. Her mind was trying to wrap around the fact that Sheldon had been taking Viagra for six years. Six! She glanced over at the white sack resting on Sheldon's lap, then up at his sweet face. As her eyes returned to the road she resolved that this was only another hiccup in their relationship, and because they loved each other things were going to be OK.

She had shaken off most of the shock by the time they reached the apartment and she sat waiting for Sheldon as he got ready for the evening. Sheldon had taken the bag with him when he went into the bathroom earlier and she wondered if he had taken one of the blue tablets. She sipped her tea, her mind leading her down paths she didn't want to go.

Sheldon emerged from his bedroom in his date night attire and walked over to the kettle to make himself a cup of tea. As he turned away from Amy, she noticed a large spot on his pants. "Sheldon you have something on the seat of your pants. It's white."

Sheldon craned his neck around both ways but couldn't find the offending mark. "What is it?"

Amy stood up and walked over to take a good look. This wasn't the first time today she had checked out his bottom, but it was the first time Sheldon was aware of it. "It looks like powder."

Sheldon didn't doubt it. He had gotten a little heavy handed with the application of the talc this evening. He knew that Amy liked the scent of it, but also the talk about date night rituals had lingered and he found he needed extra help with perspiration this evening. Truth be known he resembled a powdered doughnut under his clothing. He started to pat his thighs and bottom, but kept missing the spot. "Did I get it?"

"No, you missed it." Sheldon tried a new spot, but he failed reaching it. "A little higher, now to the left." He twisted around and tried to follow her instructions but continued to miss the elusive smudge of talc. Without thought she absentmindedly started swatting at the fabric on his left cheek.

Sheldon's arms fell dead to his sides as she gently slapped the powder off of his bottom. His heart lurched in his chest at the unexpected contact. He was about to say something, when Penny and Leonard walked in the door. Penny smirked at the sight before her. "Rookie mistake you two. You do that type of thing after dinner, otherwise you sometimes end up missing dinner."

Sheldon rolled his eyes at her and Amy turned crimson.

* * *

Raj had received a cryptic text from Emily about needing him to leave the hotel room for an hour. When he came back the room was dimly lit by a dozen candles, while soft music played in the background. And there reclined on the bed was Emily. She had on a brownish black hair bikini set, with furry boots, gloves and wig with pointed ears to match.

Raj thought the costume looked familiar, but couldn't quite place it. He stepped closer to the bed. "Why hello, furry little creature. Who might you be?" He reached over and ran a finger along the plush boots.

"Oh you don't recognize me? I picked it out because I thought you would take one look at it and instantly know who I was." Emily pouted. "You know, I could have sworn Bernadette gave me a funny look when I picked it up, but she didn't say anything. Crap!"

Raj reached out to her and hugged her close. "No, I love it. It's very sexy." He kissed her cheek and smiled at her.

"You still don't know who I am do you?" Emily sighed.

"Uhhh… I have a hunch." Raj hedged. It disturbed him that he found the costume hot, but that Emily picked it out was a whole other twisted wrong thing altogether.

"I'll give you a hint, the name starts with 'C'." Emily said coyly.

Raj swallowed hard. They were down a dark rabbit hole indeed. He felt more disturbed over this than the Sailor Moon three-way. He hesitated to the point that Emily gave up and answered a split second before he did.

"Sexy Chewbacca."

"Cin-Chewbacca." Raj awkwardly spit out.

"Wait. What was that?" Emily sat up abruptly.

"Chewbacca. I definitely said Chewbacca." Raj nodded adamantly.

Emily eyed him with suspicion as Raj caressed her hairy hand. A few tense moments passed before Emily's eyes widened. "Oh, it was because I didn't have the gun." She leaned over to the floor by the bed and came back carrying a blaster.

Raj smiled at her and was thrilled that Emily returned it. "See, that makes all the difference." Raj didn't have the heart to tell her that Chewbacca also didn't have pointy ears. "Now my little Wookie, let's see if I can make you howl."

* * *

The two couples had arrived at the restaurant and were crossing the street when an older model Mustang, splotched in grey primer screeched to a halt at the last minute. The driver laid on the horn making everyone jump, before he sped off into the night. "What a jerk!" Leonard tossed a look back at the departing taillights. "He's going to kill someone!"

As their hearts slowed back down to normal they entered the dimly lit Moroccan restaurant. Sheldon hunkered down on a cushion at the low table with obvious disdain. "The things one does for love."

"Well I think it's romantic." Amy gushed as she curled her legs demurely together on the cushion next to him. She gazed around the dining area that was adorned with colorful drapes and golden glowing lamps.

"The food here is great." Penny raved. "There's a chicken dish that is wonderful, but it's a little hot. I can't remember the name of it." She noticed Leonard looking at her, his eyebrows raised quizzically, a small smile developing on his face, when she remembered their deal. "False alarm Sweetie." She patted his arm.

An attendant came and washed everyone's hands, which met with Sheldon's approval. When the server came for their drink orders, Sheldon frowned at Penny's choice of wine. "Penny, alcoholic beverages are rarely consumed when dining in Morocco."

"Well it's a good thing we are in Studio City and not Morocco." She raised her glass of white wine at him and turned to the waiter. "Keep 'em coming."

After about three glasses of wine Penny started to get a little chatty. But not in a good way. She turned to Leonard and leaned over. "You know our little "deal", I was thinking of the oddest place that I had... you know, and I remembered this one time with Keith Markum. We went to the Durham museum and were rounding third base in one of those old restored train cars when a tour guide and a group of tourists came in. We were so close to getting caught." She giggled a little. "Oh, Keith. He had a way of talking me into things…" She drained her wineglass.

Leonard wasn't as amused as Penny was with all this talk about Keith. "Yeah, that's really funny." He said flatly, taking a sip of his own wine.

"What type of train car was it?" Sheldon asked excitedly.

"It had a lot of seats and was silver." Penny stated nodding her head affirmatively. Sheldon shook his head and went back to eating his chicken.

Amy could never get enough of Penny's stories of her wild and crazy days. "How exciting! Hormones raging, adrenaline pumping. The excitement of young love." Amy sighed. She flicked Sheldon a brief look, which Sheldon caught, then she also turned her attention back to her meal. Sheldon continued to stare at her confused.

"Oh, this one time we had a half rack of beer and drove to the Missouri river. It was pitch black so we had to make our way down the trail only by starlight. We got bumped and bruised and covered in mosquito bites. Then we found an old rowboat and whichever spot didn't have a bruise or bite already ended up getting splinters in it." She smirked then noticed Leonard looking at her intently. "What?"

Leonard needed a way to make her stop talking about her ex. He grabbed her hand and started tracing small circles on the back of it with his thumb. "You know, sharing life experiences can be quite rewarding." He licked his lips and fixed Penny with a smouldering look. "I was thinking about a quote from someone old and wise. He said, 'Pass on what you have learned.'" His eyes glittered possessively as he continued to stare at Penny.

"Oh I love that quote." Sheldon exclaimed his fork clattering to his plate. "It's one of the last things Yoda says before he dies." Sheldon grinned not seeing Penny snap to attention at the mention of the Jedi master's name. "'There..there... is...another… Sky...walker….'" Sheldon said in a halting whisper. "Look goosebumps." He held his arm out to Amy rolling up the sleeve of his dress shirt.

Penny was staring intently at Leonards lips. "Is Sheldon correct. Was it Yoda?"

"Is Sheldon correct?" Sheldon snorted. But Leonard and Penny had eyes only for one another.

Leonard licked his lips. "Yes, Yoda."

Penny stood abruptly and nearly tripped over her cushion. "I'm going to the ladies room." She said curtly. She stumbled off past a beaded curtain.

Amy had been watching the odd interactions quietly. She had become accustomed to the tradition of going to the bathroom collectively as a group when out with Penny and Bernadette, so she was surprised she wasn't invited when Penny went. It may have been Penny's tipsiness, but that was soon fixed. "Excuse me." She rose from her spot and headed towards the ladies room. Leonard wasn't expecting Amy to bolt from the table and his weak calls went unheard. Sheldon was puzzled at Leonard's protests. He didn't understand why females felt a need to go to the restroom as a herd, but he knew that it happened for a reason. Maybe a behavior adapted from prehistoric times to protect vulnerable squatting females from marauding beasts. Highly unlikely to happen in the ladies room at "The Taste of Marrakesh" in Studio City, but oh well.

Penny had found the restroom in a dimly lit hallway. She entered the dark single person room and being a bit drunk had a hard time finding the light switch. She was still fumbling in the dark when the door opened again.

Leonard wasted no time getting in here! Penny zeroed in to the dark shape and planted a big opened mouth kiss on his soft lips while embracing his torso in a tight hug. While the lips felt familiar they didn't seem quite right. "Leonard's" posture remained stiff and unyielding as he started to make noises of disapproval against her lips. She knew he liked to be vocal, but he never sounded displeased. One minute...oh crap!

The lips pulled away from hers as she realized she wasn't kissing Leonard. She released her grip and backed away. It was then that Amy found the light and shot an alarmed look over to Penny. "Why did you do that, Bestie? I'm flattered and all, b-but I belong to Sheldon now." Amy stammered. "And, and you have Leonard."

"What, no… I mean I thought you were someone… you know... never mind. I've had a bit to drink and I… I'm sorry Amy." Penny stumbled over her apology.

"It's OK. Let's forget it ever happened." Amy said still unsure of what just occurred. She made her way to the door, clutching her purse like a life preserver and left hurriedly.

Leonard was looking anxiously towards where Amy and Penny had gone ever since Amy had left the table. Amy returned sooner than expected, with a dazed look on her flushed face.

"Are you OK?" Sheldon asked concernedly.

"Yes. That has never happened to me in a restroom before." Amy said in disbelief.

"Well as it doesn't sound anything like polite dinner conversation, I say the matter is closed." Sheldon said firmly.

Leonard stood up and dropped his napkin on the table. "I'm going to the restroom, excuse me." He hurried down the darkened hallway.

Sheldon shook his head fearing he would be next. He turned to Amy. "Three people running to the bathroom within five minutes of each other. I told you Moroccan food was a bad idea." He pushed his plate away with disgust.

Penny and Leonard returned ten minutes later, covered in a thin sheen of sweat. Sheldon was surprised he was the only one not affected by the food. He did however have a superior immune system so that must be why he wasn't sickened. The two sat down and gave each other a big smile. Penny then looked at Amy and her face splitting grin faltered to a weak grin that Amy returned.

* * *

Howard heard Bernie's keycard in the door and turned the TV show he was watching off. He made to rise off the bed but Bernie halted him. "Howie, you wait right there. I have a little something I want to model for you." She walked towards the bathroom with a mysterious grin and a plastic bag.

"You do?" Howard was fully paying attention now.

"I do." She gave him a look filled with promise as the bathroom door closed.

Howard sprung from the bed and froze. He checked his breath by cupping his hand. He ran to the dresser and grabbed a piece of gum. He chewed furiously as he hurriedly kicked off his shoes. He sat back on the bed, but leapt off of it again and paced the length of the room. An eternity later the bathroom door opened and a ponytailed Bernadette emerged gloved hands on hips.

"Oh my God.. Sailor Moon!" Howard squeaked.

"I figured this might be the perfect choice to make you forget any other Sailor Moon lookalikes."

"I-I think that it's going to work." Howard nodded vigorously. "In fact, I don't know of any other Sailor Moon's. Sailor who?"

"Exactly." Bernie said with a devilish smile. "Wait a minute. Didn't I tell you to wait on the bed?" Her look became more stern.

"You did but…"

"But nothing Mr. I said to wait on the bed." She walked slowly to her husband, mini-skirt swaying with the movement of her hips. She pulled the thick sailor bow from her neckline and held it out in front of her pulling the material taut. "I know one way to make sure you don't leave the bed again." She started to tie his wrists together with the fabric.

"Best vacation ever!" Howard gushed.

* * *

The two couples returned to the apartment. As Amy and Sheldon headed for the lobby door, Penny put a hand on Leonard's shoulder and stopped him. "It's such a nice evening. Let's go for a walk."

Leonard looked at her strangely. "Really? At this time of night?"

Penny smiled mysteriously. "I heard that walking and... other cardiovascular activities," She gave his body the once over with her eyes. "Can lead to multiple health benefits."

"Multiple health benefits. Sounds good to me!" Leonard hastily agreed. He turned to the other two. "You two don't wait up."Leonard and Penny strolled down the sidewalk hand in hand. The street lamps cast a warm glow on the two lovers as they crossed the street and found themselves in the park.

They walked down one of the walkways and took in the peaceful beauty of the evening.

"What a wonderful night." Penny exclaimed. She looked up through the canopy of trees at the shimmering stars. Her creamy neck was exposed and stood in stark contrast to the inky shadows around them.

"Beautiful." Leonard sighed, not looking at the sky or the trees.

She looked over at him and noticed his intent stare. "You are really getting into the spirit of the holiday." She leaned over and kissed him softly on the cheek.

"Are you warm?" Leonard asked hopefully.

"No." Penny replied, knowing full well what he was getting at. She pulled him deeper into the park.

"Oh." Leonard said almost under his breath. "Do you know that the melting point for tungsten is 3695 Kelvin?" Penny gave him a confused look. He clarified. "6192 degrees Fahrenheit."

"I didn't know that. That's pretty...toasty." Penny stated with wide-eyed innocence.

"Yeah it is." Leonard muttered. He chewed his bottom lip. "Um... I forgot. What setting are you supposed to wash white laundry at?" He looked at her with the innocence of a child.

He wasn't fooling anyone.

"The warmest setting on your washer." Penny replied, pulling him off the path towards an out of the way bush. "Now let's get these pants off of you because you look...hot." She pulled him to her and they melted into the darkness.

* * *

Sheldon stared at the Blu-ray disc in his hand with mixed feelings. He had looked forward to watching season four for weeks. But now with Amy's attraction to Jon Snow evident, he didn't know if this was a good idea.

He looked back at Amy innocently sitting in her spot on the couch checking her phone. It was a bit suspicious that she agreed to watch Game of Thrones with him. She normally would complain that it being a special evening, they should do something they would both enjoy. But she seemed happy to watch Jon Snow striding around Westeros. "He really is a bastard." He muttered as he put the disc in the player.

"Did you say something Sheldon?" Amy asked looking up from her phone.

"No, never mind." He walked over to the couch and flopped down on the couch."

"It's not this Jon Snow ridiculous nonsense again is it?" She asked exasperatedly.

"Well…"

"Sheldon, I don't know why some off handed remark that Penny made has got you so jealous of some character from a TV show. I only have feelings for you." She took the remote from his hand and aimed it at the player. "We don't have to watch this." She pushed the power button and the unit turned off.

Sheldon took the remote back and turned the power back on. "No. I am a grown man. I can accept that a woman such as yourself needs the occasional 'eye candy', as Penny calls it. So be it."

"Eye candy? When have I ever needed eye candy?" Amy snatched the remote out of his hand and pointed it at the TV. "You are plenty enough eye candy for me. Now I'm turning the TV off and it's staying off." She pushed the power button and the whole apartment was plunged into deep darkness.

"How did you do that?"

The primer covered Mustang wove its way erratically down the streets of Pasadena, an empty wine bottle rolling around the passenger floor with the motion of the car. The drunk and heartbroken driver careened his beat up vehicle on to the sidewalk, missed a turn and smashed into an electrical transformer. The surrounding buildings and the streetlights blackened. He threw the car in reverse making a squeal of metal against metal as he pulled away from the wreckage. The steaming car lurched on into the now darker evening. It caught the attention of a patrol car who turned his red and blue lights on and started pursuit of the damaged car. The distraught driver having nothing to lose, and a few warrants, floored the muscle car and the chase was on.

Amy used her phone to cast a weak light to enable her to walk to the window. She saw the lights out across the street as well. "It's not just us. The lights aren't on across the street either."

Sheldon joined her at the window stumbling once in the dark. He stood behind her, placing his hands on her shoulders, his breath blowing over the back of her head. It gave her chills. "Sheldon. What did you mean by a woman such as myself?"

Oh boy. "Amy as much as I would like to answer you, I need to implement the power failure protocols. I need to get my reverse osmosis machine, glow sticks and deep cycle marine battery so we can watch Game of Thrones." He started to leave when she caught him by the hand and stopped him.

"We don't need all that. We just need a couple of candles and each other."

"Candles are not recommended by Pasadena Water and Power." Sheldon argued.

"We aren't going to leave any flames burning unattended, and we shouldn't have a gas leak, I say we take our chances." Amy released his hand and walked over to where the date night candles were kept. She struck a match and lit the pillars. "Do you have more?"

A moment later 4A was awash in the soft glow of a dozen flickering candles. At Sheldon's insistence, the fire extinguisher stood at the ready by Sheldon's spot, in case a candle tried to ignite the place. Sheldon had to admit he liked the way the warm light bounced over his girlfriend's features. "Are you sure you don't want me to get my battery so we can watch TV?"

"Positive. And no, the reverse osmosis machine is not necessary either. All we need is the two of us, good conversation and a few candles." Amy turned to face him more from her spot on the couch. "Do you want to play a game or do you have a topic for discussion?" Amy looked at Sheldon expectantly.

"Well, we could talk about the implications of them testing the Large Hadron collider in June. We could discuss how the Germans invented a way to bend light around an object to make it appear invisible. Which means invisibility cloaks are not far behind." Sheldon looked Amy in the eye then down at his hands. "Or we could discuss…"

"If you mention either the word Jon or Snow I'm leaving." Amy said flatly. "Now pardon me for interrupting, what was your third topic?"

"Nothing." Sheldon said curtly.

"Oh, which brings us back to an earlier comment, 'A woman such as yourself' needing eye candy. What was that supposed to mean?"

Drat! "What I meant was... that a woman like yourself...needs from time to time…" The great Sheldon Cooper was speechless.

"Did you mean a woman like myself being a neurologist? A girlfriend? A quilt aficionado? What?" Amy asked quietly.

"No, I meant… a woman like you who is no longer satisfied with only pure intellect but is um...preoccupied with...um carnal thoughts." Sheldon spit it out finally with great effort.

"Preoccupied with carnal thoughts?" Amy said incredulously. "What gave you that idea?"

"Well at prom you said you were always hoping we would…" He trailed off. "You must have been thinking about it for some time." His gaze was fixed on his knees.

Amy just sat there staring at him. She hadn't brought up anything of a sexual nature to him in over a year. She had finally realized it wasn't worth the crushing disappointment she felt when he spurned her. She figured he would eventually get there as he had in the past. She had become more hopeful when they finally started kissing a year ago. Sheldon didn't object to the activity as much as she thought he would, in fact he seemed to enjoy it. The kisses were tame but still several date nights ended in a much needed cold shower or a round with Gerard.

"Well, I have thought about us in an intimate way for the past few years. I don't know about preoccupied though."

"Come on." Sheldon snorted. " You mean to tell me that you don't spend the majority of your time thinking about...s-e-x." Sheldon said the last bit quietly. "You've been sniffing around my goods for years."

Amy's frown was clearly visible in the dim candlelight. "Sheldon just because I hinted at deepening our intimacy doesn't mean I'm thinking about it constantly. What do you think goes through my mind when the lights go out?"

Sheldon colored a little then pursed his lips. "Well Amy, I could see it starting off innocent enough. I could see you start by reenacting a date night kiss in your mind. A little kissing leads to making out like hooligans under the school bleachers. From there things get a little carried away. My hands start to roam over your thighs, your waist um… your..." Amy saw his gaze dip almost imperceptibly down to her chest before continuing. "...etcetera." He gulped.

Amy tried to hide her surprise at how candidly Sheldon was talking about "her" fantasies. She was intrigued, but was afraid of scaring him off. Her voice took on a husky tone as she asked quietly, "What do you imagine I think of next?" She unconsciously bit her lip, which focused Sheldon's attention to their soft, pink contours.

"Um…". Sheldon's cheeks were scarlet by now and his mouth was as dry as the Mojave. He felt that things were spiraling out of his control and he didn't care for it. "You know, what I think doesn't matter." Sheldon's voice cracked and he cleared his throat. "What is important is that you have an outlet such as Jon Snow to channel your um...frustrations."

"My frustrations?" Amy questioned. "Since I brought up the notion of sex first, I'm the only one here that's sexually frustrated?" Sheldon couldn't read her face, but had a feeling things were going to go badly for him. Amy cocked her head to the side. "So Sheldon, after all these years you never get "frustrated"? Not at all."

Sheldon hesitated before answering quietly."I never said that I never was...frustrated." He shook his head slowly, worried about what type of trap his girlfriend was walking him towards.

Amy put a hand in his and squeezed it."Sheldon it's good to know that you get frustrated too." She sighed lightly. She had feared she was the only one. "I know this is all new to you, but it is new to me too. Sometimes I feel like the only one in this relationship that wants to go forward."

"It just seems like we're going so fast sometimes Amy. It's been only five years." Sheldon protested.

Amy sighed again. "I know you are an overly cautious person Sheldon, but don't you ever want to just let go and damn the consequences of your actions? To just lose yourself in another person and let instinct take over instead of analyzing every single step and having every move choreographed?" She looked up into his startled eyes and gave a small encouraging smile. "Haven't you ever once thought to listen to your heart over your head? To give into unbridled desire and pleasur-umf?"

The word was muffled by Sheldon's lips pressing firmly against hers. As the initial shock wore off, Amy was surprised anew when Sheldon broke contact and caught and released her bottom lip. His hands came up to capture her face and make sure she didn't have any ideas about leaving.

He didn't have to worry. Amy melted into his touch and kissed him back with matched fervor. She felt as if she couldn't get close enough to him and pulled herself almost onto his lap. His hands tangled in her silky hair as he left the familiarity of her lips and trailed down the velvet skin of her neck. Amy gasped as he left tiny kisses down past the collar of her date night blouse. Amy's gasp sent a burning finger of flame down to his stomach. He exhaled a deep warm breath against her neck and reluctantly straightened up, looking at his flushed girlfriend.

Amy was breathing in short puffs, but under control until Sheldon's gaze flicked down to her lips and his tongue darted out to moisten his top lip. Hesitation went right out the window as she pounced on him and consumed his lips.

* * *

Meanwhile, below them the beat up Mustang scraped parked cars and took out a few road signs with a thunk as it careened down Los Robles. With little thought the driver turned sharply and made his way off road through the park, sirens screaming behind him.

Leonard was pulling his pants up with a besotted grin when the sound of sirens and the splash of blue and red lights drew his attention. Headlights were heading for them and without hesitation he pushed Penny out of the way as the Mustang slammed into the tree besides them. As their attention was caught by the twisted car, they did not notice the dead tree limb loosen and fall until Leonard was on the ground covered in branches.

"Leonard!" Penny cried. She started pulling the branches off of him as he winced and held his arm. A long gash in his coat began to bleed. "Someone help us!"

* * *

Amy and Sheldon pulled apart, Amy's hair askew and Sheldon's shirt rumpled. Both were breathing hard and exhilarated. Amy caressed Sheldon's shoulder. "So you do want me."

Sheldon's eyebrows knitted together. "Of course I do. I thought that was common knowledge." He searched her face quizzically. "This is almost like when you tried to tell me I didn't have to say I love you. I thought you already knew that I loved you and had for some time. Just because I didn't say, didn't mean I didn't feel it." He took her hand in his and rubbed the soft skin.

Amy smiled warmly at him and laid her head on his strong shoulder. "Sometimes a woman needs validation. She needs to know that she's desired."

Sheldon took a deep breath. "Amy, I have never before shown any interest in a woman before I met you. But then you came along and have intrigued me from day one. You have challenged my notion that I didn't need another human being to make me feel complete. And although I never saw myself in this type of relationship ever, I feel I am bettered by it." He shifted his head till it rested on top of hers. "I do want you. But there is something holding me back. I…" He felt as if he had said too much already, he wasn't used to being this candid.

"Sheldon, we can work around it. You don't have to be embarrassed. I love you and am willing to work with you and your… health issues." Amy raised her head and smiled encouragingly at Sheldon. "Sometimes I understand that it could be psychological as opposed to a physical issue. We could explore that avenue unless you already have."

Sheldon's brow crinkled again. "Health issues? Psychiatry? What are you talking about?"

Amy cleared her throat. "I saw what your prescription was for, the one you left in my car. It's a minor setback, but there are ways to work around such things." She squeezed his hand.

"Wait. Why would my prescription be an issue? I haven't had a problem since I started taking it. My levels have been normal for years." Sheldon searched Amy's eyes for an explanation.

"Sheldon, let me help you with this. You don't have to deal with this alone. I can understand that this type of issue can make a man feel less virile. It explains so much over the last five years. Why you shunned intimacy. Just because you need Viagra is no need to feel ashamed."

"I'm sorry, who needs what now?" Sheldon asked eyes bulging.

* * *

Penny and Leonard walked slowly up the stairs, Leonard looking at the 5 new stitches on his arm. "Is it true that chicks dig scars?"

Penny smirked. "Absolutely. Especially if boys get scars by saving that chicks life."

"I think the tree gets that you should marry it." Leonard smiled.

"Well you're much cuter, way smarter and that tree can't do that thing you do with your tongue." Penny smirked. "Besides I hear he's very 'poplar' and would probably just 'leaf' me anyway."

Leonard groaned and Penny shook her head in shame. "Yeah sorry I said that. It's bad enough that you were injured."

"It's true." Leonard sighed in mock exasperation. "Even with narcotics in my system, it wasn't funny."

"Well I know that it's not your usual night to stay over, but I think I owe you some TLC. If not for saving my life, then for that horrible pun." She opened the apartment door and let him inside.

"That is only fair, it was pretty bad."

"But no hanky panky, I'm... 'bushed'." Penny smirked.

Leonard groaned again as she closed the door. "Haven't I been through enough pain this evening?"

* * *

Sheldon stared at the bottle in the medicine cabinet. "It doesn't even have my name on it Amy." His voice very matter of fact. Amy was having a hard time reading him.

Amy's cheeks were on fire. "I can see that now."

"Well Mr. Bernie Schwartz, good luck having coitus using my vitamin D tablets." He tossed the bottle in the wastebasket.

"Vitamin D, huh." Amy swayed back and forth in the way she did when she was nervous.

"Yes vitamin D. I was one step away from having rickets as a child because I refused to leave the house to play. Actually I still don't like going outside." Sheldon looked down at the pills in the garbage. "I've been perfectly healthy since I started the supplementation."

"I'm sorry Sheldon. I just assumed that since you had that prescription that it was yours."

"I know. It wasn't your fault. It was a misunderstanding. But Amy, I want to make a few things perfectly clear." He turned to face her and she could see his blue eyes were crackling with sparks. She gulped at his intense stare and took an involuntary step backwards, her back hitting the bathroom wall. He closed the small distance between them and placed his hands on her hips. He placed a tender kiss on her cheek. "First off there has never been anyone else. Ever. It's always been you. Always." He kissed the corner of her mouth gingerly. "Second it's not a matter of 'if' we will be intimate anymore, it's when." He captured her top lip, tugging on it slightly before opening his eyes again to fix her with a look that took her breath away. "Furthermore, that day is not as far away as you might think." He took her full bottom lip in his own and freed it only to take it between his again and again. They parted with a smack. "And finally when that day comes when I finally have the courage to do what I have only dreamed about." He stroked her hair and knew he was very lucky indeed. "My dear Dr. Fowler, I will be more than capable of performing exceptionally little lady."

"Hoo!"

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**A/N: Thanks guys. I hope it was worth the wait. Now you don't have to read The 95 Degree Destiny, but if you want to know what would have happened if Howard's lab was too hot instead of cold give it a try. Reviews are always welcome.**


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